Concept-based Analysis of Surface and Structural Misfits (CASSM) Tutorial notes

Concept-based Analysis of Surface and Structural Misfits (CASSM) in a novel approach to usability analysis that focuses attention on misfits between user and system concepts. We believe that as an approach it has several desirable qualities: o It focuses on concepts rather than tasks or procedures. Consequently, it complements the majority of existing approaches to usability evaluation. In particular, it analyses conceptual misfits between user and system. o By intentionally supporting ‘sketchy’ analysis, CASSM avoids the ‘death by detail’ that plagues many evaluation techniques. CASSM analyses do not have to be complete or consistent to be useful – though of course a thorough analysis is likely to have these properties. Also, CASSM analyses are often quite succinct, compared to (for example) a Cognitive Walkthrough (Wharton et al, 1994), Heuristic Evaluation (Nielsen, 1994) or GOMS analysis (John & Kieras, 1996). o As a notation, it provides a ‘bridge’ between the core ideas underpinning work on mental models and design issues, and may thus make prior work on mental models more readily accessible to design practice. [This should be regarded as a hypothesis that has not yet been tested.] o The CASSM notation provides a relatively formal definition of many of Green’s Cognitive Dimensions (see, for example, Green, 1989; Green & Petre, 1996; Blackwell & Green 2003). In this way, it further supports assessment of a system in terms of CDs. This is discussed in detail towards the end of this document. Although the name (CASSM: Concept-based Analysis of Surface and Structural Misfits) emphasises the importance of misfits, you should be aware that there are other kinds of user–system misfits that are outside the scope of CASSM; for example, inconsistencies in procedures for similar tasks would be picked up by other techniques but are not directly addressed within CASSM. CASSM focuses on conceptual structures

Gravity as elasticity of spacetime: a paradigm to understand horizon thermodynamics and cosmological constant

It is very likely that the quantum description of spacetime is quite different from what we perceive at large scales, $l\gg (G\hbar/c^3)^{1/2}$. The long wave length description of spacetime, based on Einstein's equations, is similar to the description of a continuum solid made of a large number of microscopic degrees of freedom. This paradigm provides a novel interpretation of coordinate transformations as deformations of "spacetime solid" and allows one to obtain Einstein's equations as a consistency condition in the long wavelength limit. The entropy contributed by the microscopic degrees of freedom reduces to a pure surface contribution when Einstein's equations are satisfied. The horizons arises as "defects" in the "spacetime solid" (in the sense of well defined singular points) and contributes an entropy which is one quarter of the horizon area. Finally, the response of the microstructure to vacuum energy leads to a near cancellation of the cosmological constant, leaving behind a tiny fluctuation which matches with the observed value.Comment: This essay received an ``honorable mention'' in the 2004 Essay Competition of the Gravity Research Foundation; accepted for publication in IJMP

The Molonglo Galactic Plane Survey (MGPS-2): Compact Source Catalogue

We present the first data release from the second epoch Molonglo Galactic Plane Survey (MGPS-2). MGPS-2 was carried out with the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope at a frequency of 843 MHz and with a restoring beam of 45 arcsec x 45 arcsec cosec(dec), making it the highest resolution large scale radio survey of the southern Galactic plane. It covers the range |b| < 10 deg and 245 deg < l < 365 deg and is the Galactic counterpart to the Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey (SUMSS) which covers the whole southern sky with dec 10 deg). In this paper we present the MGPS-2 compact source catalogue. The catalogue has 48,850 sources above a limiting peak brightness of 10 mJy/beam. Positions in the catalogue are accurate to 1 arcsec - 2 arcsec. A full catalogue including extended sources is in preparation. We have carried out an analysis of the compact source density across the Galactic plane and find that the source density is not statistically higher than the density expected from the extragalactic source density alone. We also present version 2.0 of the SUMSS image data and catalogue which are now available online. The data consists of 629 4.3 deg x 4.3 deg mosaic images covering the 8100 deg^2 of sky with dec 10 deg. The catalogue contains 210,412 radio sources to a limiting peak brightness of 6 mJy/beam at dec -50 deg. We describe the updates and improvements made to the SUMSS cataloguing process.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, to be published in MNRAS Note that Figures 8 and 9 are much lower resolution than in the published versio

Gold etching for microfabrication

The etching of gold is a key enabling technology in the fabrication of many microdevices and is widely used in the electronic, optoelectronic and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) industries. In this review, we examine some of the available methods for patterning gold thin films using dry and wet etching techniques. Dry methods which utilise reactive ion etching (RIE) have a number of important advantages over other methods, but the low volatility of gold etch products has made the development of suitable processes problematic. More recently, the adoption of high-density plasma reactors with optimised chlorine-based chemistries has allowed improved processes to be developed, and etching in hydrogen plasmas also shows promise. Wet etching methods for gold have also been critically reviewed. Traditionally, iodine- and cyanide-based etch processes have been used, but in the last decade, a number of alternative etchants have been studied. Of particular interest is the recent development of a range of novel non-aqueous-based gold etchants, and the suitability of these etchants for microfabrication is assessed

A digitalized solar ultraviolet spectrum

Digitalized solar ultraviolet spectrum obtained in rocket experiments for use in analysis of upper atmosphere experiment